Permeable pavers are typically utilized to support vehicles on a ground surface as an alternative to pavements or other surfaces that are generally impermeable. The permeable pavers are typically constructed of rigid sheets comprised of a grid structure that facilitates filling with a masonry material, such as crushed stone, permits permeation of water through the grid into underlying soil and supports vehicles, such as in a driveway or parking lot. The pavers are typically rigidly constructed so that they remain in a rigid and flat configuration during transport, installation and use. The pavers are generally difficult and cumbersome to arrange and install, particularly when multiple sheets must be interlocked to form a final permeable paver assembly in a relatively large parking area or along a significant driveway. Field assembly of panels on site is costly due to construction labor and known rolled materials are cumbersome to align. It would be desirable to design develop and deploy a permeable paver or ground reinforcing structure that is easy to install, which would be a great advantage to the installers or contractors.
One of the many struggles in assembling the permeable paver sheets are the connections between the sheets. Nearly all of these connections are a derivation of a simple snap connector that requires a worker to assemble each connection by hand. This can be a lengthy process for the hundreds of potential connections a permeable paver system may have.
A major structural component of a permeable paver is how well the paver carries load across a single mat. U.S. Pat. No. 7,210,876 (“'876 patent”) utilizes tubular hexagonal-shaped cell members that are diagonally offset but share a common sidewall with an adjacent cell member. These offset cell members are designed from a single tubular shape that is offset multiple times which makes up rows of connected cell members with common sidewalls. As a result of this row design, relatively large voids are created between the rows where vehicle tires are unsupported when rolling over the assembled pavers. These voids in the structural supports can cause rutting and road noise when the tires of vehicles roll over the assembled paver sheets.
Another issue in the permeable paver market is how the pavers are designed laterally or at edges of the assembled paver sheets. Known permeable pavers, such as the permeable pavers described in the '876 patent, end with a flat wall sidewall that defines a straight line at its edge and may butt up against another sheet or mat at another edge. These straight or sheer edges can cause major rutting to the paver assembly, damage to the edges of the sheets and may structurally damage connections between the sheets, as large separating forces are created at connections between the sheets. When a vehicle drives on the line between two sheets, a bending moment is generated causing the two sheets to bend up as the edges are pushed down. These are the weaker sections of the sheets because they have difficulty supporting a load well enough on the edges, as the sheets are strongest in the center (snow shoe effect). A tire rolling down the edge of these straight-edged prior art sheets applies load directly to the single sheet at the edge and any load transfer to an adjacent sheet must be carried to the adjacent sheet exclusively by connections between the sheets. The known connections typically have difficulty carrying and transferring these loads.
It would be desirable to design, develop, construct and deploy a permeable paver system, including structural reinforcement sheets or mats that are relatively easily transported and installed. It would be desirable for the paver sheets or mats to include a connection system that is relatively simple for operators to align and engage. It is also desirable for the paver system to support the travel of vehicles over the connected sheets, as well as along edges of the connected sheets without significantly damaging to moving the assembled sheets. It would further be desirable for the connection of paver sheets of the permeable paver system to facilitate easy installation into the form of substantially installed pavement. In contrast, known permeable paver products require closer assembly or individual assembly of connections, typically by hand to align and connect sheets/grids.